Traditional low fat spreads (40% fat and below) have water structuring agents added to the aqueous phase. The water structuring agents are either gelling or nongelling. The processes to manufacture low fat spreads are either conventional or by inversion processes. The levels of water structuring agents in a 40% fat spread could range from 1-6% and thus the water content in these spreads ranges from 52%-58%.
Low fat spreads have been improved over the years using new processes and choices of aqueous phase thickeners. These low fat spreads have excellent application for cold use and to some extent for hot use. The hot use is mostly restricted to hot toast. Even on hot toast, the toast tends to become soggy depending on the temperature of the toast and the total time after spreading.
With 40% fat in low fat spreads/margarine, the functionality for use in baking is reduced and thus the low fat spreads are not recommended for baking. This is partly due to low fat level and also due to high water content in these spreads. The high water content is normally a problem in baking, particularly with consumers trying to follow the recipes which call for 65-80% fat margarine/spreads. The water content in the recipes are not adjusted based on the low fat spreads. With one to one replacement of high fat spread with low fat spread in the traditional recipes as well as in the prepared bakery mixes available commercially, the result is a soggy dough in the case of cookies and a soggy batter in the case of cakes and muffins.
There have been attempts to produce low fat baking spread/margarine and to overcome the soggy dough/batter problem by replacing the water with any bulking agent. However, traditionally available bulking agents, which are soluble in water, tend to increase the viscosity of the aqueous phase. The increased viscosity of the aqueous phase leads to poor mouthfeel for cold use. The other approach that has been taken is to bind the water with humectants. Humectants which bind water replace part of the total water content. However, at the levels used these humectants generally affect taste, resulting in a product which is quite different than the normal spread. For example, sugars are good humectants but the resulting spread will be too sweet to be acceptable to the consumer.
Particular patents in this field are:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,568;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,141;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,729;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,732;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,652;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,824;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,717;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,035;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,981;
EP 0 368 451 B1;
EP 0 444 891 B1;
EP 0 443 788 B1;